Manchester United are facing the prospect of going up against Newcastle in their crucial Premier League clash without midfielder Paul Pogba.

The France international missed the 0-0 draw with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday after staying behind in Manchester for further treatment on an ankle injury that has troubled him for more than a month.

- ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!
- VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide
- When does the transfer window reopen?
- Premier League winter break: All you need to know

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not expect to have Pogba -- whose injury has seen him left out of the France squad -- back for the trip to St James' Park on Sunday when United will go in search of their first away win since March.

"It might be time for us to give Paul 10 or 14 days extra to be ready for Liverpool," Solskjaer said.

Jesse Lingard is also set to miss out after suffering a hamstring injury against Alkmaar while the game may also come too soon for Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw.

United have made their worst start to a season for 30 years but despite just two league wins this term, Solskjaer said things are brighter than they seem.

"I just know sometimes when you walk off games, we're not doing bad here," Solskjaer said. "Sometimes there's a gap.

"I've felt that a couple of times but not very often. I can't think about what anyone else is thinking about us. We will need to improve and that is what we have to do.

"We're not in the '90s now. It's a different era, a different group that we're building. We know there are going to be ups and downs. I'm ready to see these boys blossom. There's not many clubs with our stature that play the young players that we do. They've got a chance to come through and we're sure some of these will be part of a successful team."

Like Solskjaer, Newcastle manager Steve Bruce is also facing mounting problems with his team sat 19th in the table and without a win since August.

While United have had midweek commitments in the Europa League, Newcastle will have a week to prepare following their 5-0 humiliation at Leicester last time out.

"Brucey is going to set up a team to win," Solskjaer said. "I'm going to set up a team to try to win.

"We're going there, it's a great stadium to play at. We're looking forward to the game. We've hopefully got many players fresh for Sunday."

All you need to know about this weekend's Premier League action, all in one place.

Jump to: How bad are Spurs? | Will Pulisic make the bench? | Fantasy Tips | Game to Watch | Match Predictions

THE WEEKEND'S BIG QUESTIONS

Can Rodgers expose Liverpool weaknesses?

Over the last week we have seen that Liverpool, despite their perfect league record, are not a perfect team. Last weekend, Sheffield United found success with a combination of pinning their full-backs into their own half and intense pressing, while in the Champions League FC Salzburg exposed a degree of fragility in almost coming from 3-0 behind at Anfield.

The question for everyone else is whether these were simply minor blips (which they got past in the end anyway), or actual weaknesses that some team will be able to exploit. Handily enough, they are facing one of the few teams in the Premier League that you would trust to exploit those weaknesses on Saturday: Leicester.

After coming so close to the title in 2013-14, Brendan Rodgers visits Anfield for the first time since leaving the club four years ago, when he was replaced by Jurgen Klopp. But that's just another reason why it's the game of the weekend and wouldn't be the biggest surprise if the Foxes came away with something.

- ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!
- VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide
- When does the transfer window reopen?
- Premier League winter break: All you need to know

Just how bad are things at Tottenham?

If you're a Spurs fan with an optimistic point of view, you could write Tuesday's 7-2 evisceration by Bayern Munich off as a freak result -- the sort of thing that happens occasionally, as every shot they took went in, etc., and so on. More realistic observers might think a scoreline like that had been coming, the cracks in the dam that have been appearing over the last nine months or so finally breaking and letting the water pour through.

Both could be true, but whatever the case, the next two games might be a more reliable gauge of where this Tottenham team are. Spurs travel to Brighton at the weekend, after which they face Aston Villa on the other side of the international break, before things start to get tricky again with a trip to Anfield. These are two entirely winnable games -- fixtures you would expect last season's version of Tottenham to deal with extremely easily -- so if they slip up in either of them, then we'll know there's a real problem in the ranks.

Will Pulisic even get on the bench for Chelsea?

Christian Pulisic has been the face of American soccer for a few years now, but that face has been looking increasingly glum as he seemingly slips further and further down the pecking order at Chelsea. The U.S. forward wasn't even on the bench for Chelsea's Champions League trip to Lille, an indication of how tough a task he has to get some meaningful time on the pitch.

Ahead of the game with Southampton on Sunday, one hope for Pulisic might be Frank Lampard's flexibility in approach: Lampard hasn't named the same team twice yet this season and has used four or five different formations. Instinctively that feels like a mistake, to complicate things too early, as the players are getting used to a new manager, but because he isn't wedded to a particular style or formation, there will be more options for Pulisic to force his way into Lampard's thinking. But then he'll need to take his chance when he gets it.

FANTASY TIPS

Kieran Darcy has some tips for the weekend action. Read his full preview here and set your team line-up!

Must-have player: Sergio Aguero, Tier 1 forward

Aguero still leads the league in goals (8) and shots (27), despite coming off the bench last week against Everton. Manchester City are by far the biggest favourites this week, at home against Wolves, who have only one win in seven games, and had to play at Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday.

Worth considering: Callum Wilson, Tier 2 forward

Wilson has scored in four straight games, and took six shots last week against West Ham. Bournemouth are underdogs at Arsenal, but Arsenal have already conceded 11 goals, and are sixth-worst in the league in terms of xG (expected goals) conceded.

Avoid at all costs: Jamie Vardy, Leicester City

Vardy was the only player in the league to score more than one goal last week, but that was against lowly Newcastle (and after Newcastle went down to 10 men). This week he's up against Liverpool, who have conceded only five goals in seven games -- tied with Vardy's own team for the best defensive record in the league.

STATS OF THE WEEKEND

Information provided by ESPN Stats & Information Group

- Liverpool are putting their 16-game Premier League winning streak on the line at home against Leicester City. Only Manchester City (18) have won more consecutive games in English top-flight history.

- Tottenham are winless in their last nine away games in the Premier League since beating Fulham 2-1 on Jan. 20. So the weekend trip to Brighton comes at the perfect time for Spurs, with the Seagulls having failed to win in each of their last eight league matches.

MAN TO WATCH

Brendan Rodgers. He's a little older now, a little more mature, less likely to give you a self-aggrandising line, and certainly a better manager than in his Liverpool days. But there's still a definite sense with Rodgers that he is not afraid of the limelight. If his team can pull off a surprise, you suspect Rodgers will enjoy being the centre of attention on Saturday.

THE GAME YOU'RE NOT PLANNING TO WATCH ... BUT SHOULD

Manchester City vs. Wolves. At first glance this looks like another walkover, one of those games where the big team scores early and kills it as a contest, so the rest of the clash essentially becomes like a cat toying with a worm it has just taken from the garden. But there could be hope for an upset here: Wolves are starting to show some form, winning two games in a row (admittedly against Watford and Thursday's mugging of Besiktas), and their modus operandi last season was doing well against the big boys. City are not unbeatable, as we've seen this season, so this is worth watching.

ONE THING THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN

Sparks will fly in midfield for Arsenal vs. Bournemouth. Colombian midfielder Jefferson Lerma has been a walking yellow card for a few years, collecting 12 of them in his debut season for Bournemouth, and he already has four of them this season. Only Luka Milivojevic has more in the Premier League, but level pegging on six with Lerma in the disciplinary stakes is Granit Xhaka, Arsenal's new captain and more importantly Lerma's opponent this weekend. We'll put the over/under on the first booking at around 20 minutes.

THE TEAMS THAT NEED A BIT OF LUCK

Luck is everything in sports. Get acquainted with ESPN's Luck Index as we pick out the team most desperate for good fortune amid a difficult run. Here are the big takeaways from the 2019 edition as explained by Gab Marcotti.

Newcastle United and Manchester United. If you're having trouble staying upbeat at the moment, it's not recommended that you watch Manchester United's visit to Newcastle on Sunday. This has the potential to be the saddest football match of all time, with two sides very much down on their luck facing each other.

If they were cartoon characters they would both be Old Gil from the Simpsons. Perhaps one of them will win to perk up their mood, but don't be surprised if it's just a sad 0-0 which makes nobody happy. If anyone deserves a little luck, it's these two.

PREDICTIONS

Brighton 1-3 Tottenham

Burnley 2-0 Everton

Liverpool 3-2 Leicester

Norwich 2-2 Aston Villa

Watford 0-2 Sheffield United

West Ham 1-1 Crystal Palace

Southampton 1-3 Chelsea

Manchester City 4-1 Wolves

Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth

Newcastle United 0-0 Manchester United

Who has the highest Test batting average? It's not Don Bradman (and it's not yet Steven Smith). You won't see it on many of the lists, but if you remove any qualification of matches played the honour currently stands with Kurtis Patterson.

He also holds a more dubious honour of having been dropped after scoring a Test century. Patterson scored 114 against Sri Lanka in Canberra in February but did not make the Ashes squad. And neither did his team-mate from that match, Joe Burns, who made 180.

A lot had changed by the time Australia's Ashes squad was named at a Southampton hotel in late July, most notably the returns of David Warner and Steven Smith, which meant what happened five months previously didn't count for much.

Patterson missed his chance to stake a claim during the Australia A tour and the inter-squad selection trial that was played at the Ageas Bowl. Across five red-ball innings on the tour he made 2, 32, 38, 2 and 0. The last two low scores came on a lively pitch (where Cameron Bancroft's unbeaten 93 cemented his Ashes spot) but Patterson felt it was the two unconverted 30s against England Lions which were his big missed opportunity. When he was called in to meet national selector Trevor Hohns, he knew what was coming.

"To be honest, I kind of knew at the end of the third game," he told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the new Sheffield Shield season. "I knew I wasn't going to be in the squad, of course you always hold out a little bit of hope, but the logical person inside me knew I wasn't going to get picked, which probably made it a little bit easier."

That does not mean there wasn't regret or disappointment having worked so hard to earn a debut against Sri Lanka in Brisbane and follow that with the cherished century.

"The selectors were after blokes who were in form and unfortunately I couldn't put that together," he said. "Of course that was frustrating, it always is when you feel like you are doing well - and I did feel like I was batting well but couldn't quite convert - but at the end of the day that was a three-week period which, in the grand scheme of things, will happen in my career. For me it's about trying to get better and improve on that for the next time."

It is that balanced outlook that helped Patterson reach the pinnacle in the first place as he shed a tag of a batsman unable to convert starts with a prolific run in 2018-19 season, which included a Sheffield Shield hundred at Perth Stadium in a game dominated by the bowlers and twin hundreds in the warm-up match against Sri Lankans that led to his hasty call-up and his Test century.

"I think over the last 12 months I've learned more about my game than at any time in my career," he said. "There were some great positives, sorting out that conversion issue I had and making my Test debut, but as the game generally does it has a great way of levelling you out and it was a bit of a disappointing end to that UK tour. But still, it provided me with some really important learnings and I know I'll be much better for it."

He is not someone to dwell on what might have been, but if there's one thing he may have done differently it was not pursuing a county deal before the Australia A tour, something that served Marnus Labuschagne so well. He is on the lookout for a contract next year.

"I just figured with there being so much cricket on that A tour leading into the Ashes that I'd get enough cricket. Obviously it didn't work out well, if I had my time again I potentially would have done that differently. This upcoming year I'm certainly looking to get over there because I do enjoy England and would love to get that county experience under my belt, so that's the goal going forward."

Before all that there is a summer to focus on with at least one batting spot up for grabs in Australia's middle order ahead of the Test series against Pakistan. It will make a fascinating first block of Sheffield Shield action, although Patterson's start may be delayed after he picked up a quad injury in the opening weekend of grade cricket. However, when he's on the park it's as much about success for New South Wales as they look to go one better than runner's up to Victoria last season.

"The Australian stuff for every playing state cricketer is always there in the background, but my most important focus is with New South Wales," he said. "I absolutely love playing for them, I still think it's a privilege, so I want to do my best and get us into winning positions. I'm quite comfortable these days with letting whatever happens happen, as it's kind of out of my control."

If he reprises the form of last season, the selectors may just come calling again.

Jasprit Bumrah is not just a difficult proposition for rival batsmen, he's also tough to face for team-mates in the nets. KL Rahul, who has been Bumrah's team-mate across formats, said the pacer was someone "you don't want to mess with" because he was as competitive away from competition as he is when in it.

"He's a phenomenal talent and I had the opportunity and privilege to play with him even before he had the chance to play for his country," Rahul said, speaking at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. "We played on the same junior level team and he's always someone that's very determined and dedicated and very passionate about cricket.

"He's someone you don't want to mess with because he bowls the ball at serious speeds and he's a competitor off the field even when we're playing against each other. There's no mercy, even for the guys who play for the same country - he's always very competitive. The things that he's doing for the country right now are absolutely fantastic and I know he's only going to grow and get better."

Among other bowlers Rahul has faced at the international level, he singled out Pat Cummins, Rashid Khan and Nathan Lyon as those who had troubled him the most. "Pat Cummins, who is the No. 1 Test bowler right now. I found him very hard to face. Rashid Khan has always got the edge over me - he has my number a little bit. Nathan Lyon from Australia. All these guys, and Bumrah of course."

"The manager kept checking for scores and we kept following ball-by-ball. What he did was unbelievable. It will always remain the best Test match that was ever played" KL Rahul on Ben Stokes' heroics at Headingley

Bumrah has been ruled out of India's ongoing Test series against South Africa with a stress fracture, while Rahul has found himself out of favour after below-par returns at the top of the order in Test cricket. He is currently playing for Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India's domestic 50-overs competition, and has been in good form, with scores of 29, 131, 4 and 81 in the first four games. He still remains part of India's white-ball squads, and has had a particularly successful time in the Indian Premier League.

With Kings XI Punjab having traded R Ashwin to Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2020, Rahul is a likely candidate to captain his team next season, and if he has his way, Kings XI will try to acquire Ben Stokes, should the England and Rajasthan Royals allrounder come under hammer.

"He can bowl, he's a phenomenal fielder, he's played out there before and he's had a great impact on the teams he's played for," Rahul said. "I hope he can play for my team, it'd be great to have him on my side!"

Rahul revealed that the Indian team had kept track of Stokes' match-winning 135 in a thrilling one-wicket win in the third Ashes Test - even though they were themselves playing a Test in the West Indies at the same time.

"It's funny because we were playing a Test match, too, in Antigua," Rahul said. "But we were following the scores on the manager's phone, as we're not really allowed to use phones during the game. The manager kept checking for scores and we kept following ball-by-ball. What he did was unbelievable. It will always remain the best Test match that was ever played. To play an innings like that is incredible. He's a phenomenal player and phenomenal athlete - you can watch that match over and over again."

SEATTLE -- Four quarters of brilliant football from Russell Wilson and the best play of Tedric Thompson's career were about to be wasted -- as was a chance for the Seattle Seahawks to gain some early ground on the defending NFC West champs.

Thompson's interception of a Jared Goff pass that he picked off the turf looked as if it could have sealed a Seahawks victory until Goff put the Rams in position for a winning field goal attempt. But Greg Zuerlein missed the attempt from 44 yards out -- by no more than a foot or two -- to let the Seahawks escape with a 30-29 win.

Exhale, Seattle. The Seahawks are 4-1 with a game in hand over the Rams, who still look like their biggest threat in the division even with the San Francisco 49ers sitting at 3-0.

QB breakdown: Wilson continues to outdo himself. Already off to the best four-game start of his career, Wilson continued his MVP-level play with four touchdowns, zero interceptions and 268 yards on 17-of-23 passing. He added 32 yards in eight carries, coming up big with his legs in the fourth quarter as he tends to do. According to NFL Next Gen Stats research, Wilson threw for 130 yards on the run, his highest total in a game in the past four seasons. He has now thrown 12 touchdown passes with no picks through five games.

Pivotal play: Thompson's interception with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter was initially ruled an incomplete pass. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll challenged, which he could do since it was just outside of two minutes. It was a redemptive moment for Thompson, a third-year safety who badly misplayed a ball in Week 1 that resulted in a long touchdown.

Pivotal play, Part II: So many plays could be considered pivotal in a one-point game. Al Woods' stop at the goal line was an easy-to-forget one. It came after Todd Gurley's 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter that put the Rams up 26-21 and set up a two-point try that would have put them up by seven. Officials ruled on the field that Goff crossed the goal line, but a review showed that Woods brought down Goff just short. Another under-the-radar play: Defensive end Branden Jackson chasing down a short throw to Robert Woods to keep him to a 3-yard gain in the fourth quarter. That helped Seattle hold the Rams to a field goal.

Promising trend: The Seahawks remain exceedingly tough to beat in prime-time games, especially at home. They're now 27-5-1 in prime time since Carroll arrived in 2010, with this victory improving the NFL's best winning percentage in such games. That includes an 18-2 record at home and a 9-1 record on Thursday night. The Seahawks have four more prime-time games on their schedule: Week 10 at San Francisco, Week 13 at Philadelphia, Week 14 vs. Minnesota and Week 15 in their rematch with the Rams in Los Angeles.

Eye-popping NextGen Stat: Wilson's first touchdown throw in the back corner of the end zone to Tyler Lockett had a completion probability of only 6.3%, the lowest on any passing TD across the NFL in the past three seasons. It actually looked like a throwaway at first glance, but Lockett made a toe-tap grab while falling out of bounds. As great of a throw as it was from Wilson while moving hard to his left, it was just as brilliant of a catch by Lockett, who has made a nice transition to Seattle's No. 1 receiver following Doug Baldwin's departure.

LOS ANGELES -- Playoff pressure is getting to the Washington Nationals.

"I feel like right now, we're trying a little too hard," leadoff man Trea Turner said following his team's 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. "Just have a little bit more fun and continue what we were doing. I think we put together good at-bats. [We're] just trying to do a little too much."

Against Walker Buehler and a trio of relievers, the Nats managed just two hits, including a second-inning single by Juan Soto and a ninth-inning double by Turner. They loaded the bases against Buehler in the fourth on three walks but failed to score, and they proceeded to have just one baserunner over the final five frames. On the night, the Nationals chased 41 percent of pitches that were thrown outside the strike zone, their second-highest chase rate in any game this year and well above their season mark (27 percent, second-lowest in the NL).

"We got to get the ball in the strike zone," said manager Davey Martinez, whose club scored 5.4 runs per game during the regular season, second-best in the NL. "For me that's the key. When we swing at balls in the strike zone, we put the ball in play. That's what we have done all year."

The anemic offensive showing comes two days after Washington's 4-3 wild card win, a contest in which the Nationals tallied one run on three hits through the first seven innings and finished with five total hits

"I think we've kind of done that the last two games," said Turner, "is just tried way too hard from the start."

When it comes to the postseason, struggling at the start is nothing new for the Nats. In five series openers since 2012, they're hitting .164 as a team and averaging 1.6 runs. In 21 total playoff games, Washington is scoring 3.5 runs per contest, nearly half a run lower than the MLB postseason average over that time (3.9).

"So we just got to relax and come back tomorrow and just get the ball in the zone," said Martinez. "We told the guys, hey, just be yourself. Don't try to do too much."

On Friday in Game 2 of the NLDS, the Nationals will face three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw.

"It's the postseason. You're not going to get anybody easy," said Turner. "It's going to be another battle, just like tonight. Hopefully we can put some runs early and get into that bullpen."

LOS ANGELES -- "My name is Walker Buehler," he said, "and my average fastball last year was 97.1 mph."

That's how Buehler introduced himself to his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in spring training a couple of years ago. It's how Ross Stripling remembers it, at least. Stripling relayed that story -- an anecdote also referenced by The Athletic in recent days -- to demonstrate the uncommon, unwavering confidence of the 25-year-old right-hander who dominated the Washington Nationals in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Thursday night.

The decision to open the postseason with Buehler instead of Clayton Kershaw or Hyun-Jin Ryu surprised many, but not those within the Dodgers' clubhouse. The baseball postseason is particularly unpredictable, especially during first-round series that stretch no more than five games. But with Buehler on the mound, the Dodgers could rely on two certainties: that his stuff would be overpowering, and that the moment would embolden him.

Buehler wound up giving up only one hit through six innings, lifting L.A. to a 6-0, tone-setting victory -- and none of his teammates seemed to bat an eye.

"If you know Walker, it's not surprising," Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. "He's very, very, very, very, very confident in himself."

As a rookie last fall, Buehler pitched the Dodgers to a division title in Game 163, then dropped an F-bomb during an on-field interview. He later held the Milwaukee Brewers to one run in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and twirled seven scoreless against the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Fall Classic, on a night when his Dodgers had to win.

Buehler struck out eight batters Thursday and has now collected 37 K's through his first five postseason starts, two shy of the club record set by Sandy Koufax, the Hall of Fame left-hander who watched Game 1 from the first row. Before Buehler, no Dodgers pitcher had ever thrown at least six scoreless innings while giving up no more than one hit in the playoffs.

"There's guys that want those opportunities, those big moments, and want to be the guy," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "Walker, time and time again, just knows how to temper, control his emotions and transfer that into the delivery, the execution of pitches. And today, from that first throw, he was on point."

Buehler's sixth pitch hit 99 mph and blew past the bat of Trea Turner for his first strikeout. Two batters later, against the potential NL MVP in Anthony Rendon, he fell behind 3-0, then spotted three pitches for strikes -- a four-seam fastball up and away, a two-seamer low and a slider low and outside. While Rendon argued over the call, the Dodger Stadium crowd of 53,095 erupted. Buehler roared as he walked off the mound, salivating the energy. He had already seized the moment.

"He's an animal," Dodgers rookie second baseman Gavin Lux said. "He's the most confident human being on the planet."

Buehler spent the last few weeks of the regular season tweaking with his pitches, as he often does. He gave up eight runs and walked nine hitters over his final 16 innings, but he didn't care about the results. In his last start, he threw every pitch as hard as he could to free up his mechanics.

When the postseason came, however, Roberts noticed a more decisive Buehler. He found something that worked during the pregame bullpen and stuck with it, hardly ever straying. His delivery and his tempo remained consistent. He threw his fastball with command to all four quadrants of the strike zone. The slow breaking ball made an appearance. The cutter was there when he needed it.

"His stuff's electric," Dodgers utilityman Chris Taylor said. "And I think he'd even tell you he didn't have his best stuff tonight."

Buehler's command noticeably strayed in the top of the fourth. He threw 26 pitches to five batters, loading the bases with two outs and drawing a visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Buehler followed with a couple of low-80s knuckle-curveballs to Asdrubal Cabrera, fielded a slow tapper back to the mound, lobbed the ball over to first base and ended the only threat the Nationals could muster.

From there, Buehler rolled again.

He finished retiring seven consecutive hitters on only 26 pitches, preserving what was then only a two-run lead. It put his team in an optimal position. The Dodgers beat the Nationals' most rested pitcher, Patrick Corbin, in Game 1 and will head into Friday's matchup against Stephen Strasburg -- who threw 34 pitches out of the bullpen in Tuesday's wild-card game -- with a chance to put this series on the brink.

"He loves the spotlight," Turner said of Buehler, his postseason ERA now 3.03 through 29⅔ innings. "He loves pitching big games. He loves this atmosphere. He answers the bell every time. It was good to see him go out there and be Walker."

Buehler finished the 2019 regular season with 14 wins, a 3.26 ERA and a 5.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the latter a significant jump from the prior year. Buehler got deeper into scouting opponents this season. Over time, he also learned how to compose himself when the pressure escalates. He reminds himself to simplify, to stick with what has worked previously, and to control his heart rate.

"Sometimes it helps to kind of embrace the atmosphere," Buehler said. "Learning to do that, I think, has been the biggest thing for me, and luckily, it's played out all right."

Every member of the Dodgers' clubhouse seems to have their own story of Buehler's astounding arrogance. His candidness has disarmed many, but Buehler has learned to balance it with self-deprecation and has warranted his assertiveness with undeniable success. Will Smith, the Dodgers' rookie catcher, grew up in Kentucky and occasionally played against Buehler in high school. He was noticeably cocky then, too.

"No one really threw 90," Smith said, "and he was throwing 95."

By the end of his run at Vanderbilt University, his fastball apparently reached 97 mph -- 97.1, to be exact.

Stripling still laughs about that story -- both at Buehler's preciseness with the velocity and his willingness to share the information. Teammates have been teasing him about it for years. His cockiness stands out, even in the ecosystem of the Dodgers' clubhouse.

"But he backs it up, and that's what's great," Stripling said. "He's not arrogant in a bad way. He's arrogant in an awesome way."

Andy Moles, who has been a key influence in the rise of Afghanistan, will now be their director of cricket. The 58-year old has also been appointed chief selector, taking over as the team navigates through a patchy 2019.

Moles has the experience of being part of the system, having coached Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015, a stint during which they made their maiden World Cup appearance. He has since been preparing the country's youngsters for the step up to international cricket, working at Under-19 and Under-23 levels. When Phil Simmons resigned from his post as head coach of the senior team soon after the 2019 World Cup, Moles filled in as interim coach and was in the dressing room as Afghanistan secured their dramatic victory over Bangladesh in Chattogram.

Last week, Afghanistan had appointed former South Africa allrounder Lance Klusener as the new national team coach for a tenure running upto 2020, with the possibility of an extension based on results.

Afghanistan, widely considered to be one of the most watchable teams on the planet, had gone into the World Cup earlier this year with much promise. However, a few weeks before the tournament was to begin, the ACB sacked captain Asghar Afghan and replaced him with Gulbadin Naib. The move came under fire from senior Afghanistan players such as Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi even before the tournament began, and contributed to their losing each of their nine games.

Midway through that World Cup, Mohammad Shahzad was sent home with a knee injury but the wicketkeeper batsman claimed he was fit and that he was unfairly left out. In August, he was suspended by the ACB for a year for a breach of contract.

There was, however, joy for Afghanistan after the World Cup as they beat Bangladesh in a riveting Test match last month. Rashid, who took over as Test captain, was the star of that game, scoring a fifty and picking up 11 crucial wickets even as rain and bad light threatened to end the five-day game in a draw.

ATLANTA -- It happened again. And this time it was in a postseason game.

Atlanta Braves center fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. failed to run out a ball he hit off the wall in right field, settling for just a single. The last time it happened, in August, he was benched. This time, he was called out by his teammates after the Braves lost 7-6 to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of their best-of-five National League Division Series on Thursday.

"Yeah, it's frustrating," Braves star first baseman Freddie Freeman said. "But I think you have that conversation once. It's kind of beating a dead horse after that if you keep having the same conversation over and over again. You have to know that was a mistake."

Acuna connected off Cardinals reliever John Brebbia in the seventh, and right-fielder Dexter Fowler played it off the wall. By the time he turned to throw the ball back in, Acuna was just getting to first base. He didn't have much of an explanation for not running.

"There's a lot of baseball players who give their best effort all the time," Acuna said through the team interpreter. "But [it] can kind of get away from them [sometimes]. We're human. We make errors."

The inning could have turned out differently if Acuna was at second base. An Ozzie Albies groundout would have gotten him to third instead of second. He was eventually doubled off the bag when Josh Donaldson lined out to shortstop. In a one-run loss, the mistake loomed large.

"He probably scores in that inning if he's on second base," Albies said. "It's a big deal. He knows he needs to do better there."

The lack of hustle overshadowed Acuna's fantastic night at the plate, which included a walk and three hits, including a ninth-inning home run. But even the home run irked some; Cardinals reliever Carlos Martinez, who surrendered it, was upset at Acuna's home run trot.

"I simply want him to respect the game and respect me as a veteran player," Martinez told reporters. "That's it. Just play the game."

But in the Braves clubhouse, the focus was on the seventh-inning play.

"He should have been on second," manager Brian Snitker said. "And we're kind of shorthanded to do anything about it right there. You hate to see that happen."

Snitker pulled Acuna from a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 18, trying to make the point to the young star that running out every ball is important, even more so in October.

"That can't happen in the playoffs," Freeman said. "Can't happen in the regular season. Unfortunately that happened tonight."

Teammates didn't say anything publicly that they didn't say to Acuna first.

"A couple guys told him, 'Yeah, just run out of the box,'" Albies relayed. "It's something you should do."

Acuna was asked if he had another chance, would he do things differently.

"Absolutely," he said. "I mean, I was trying to give my best effort and those are those things that just kind of get away from you. So, obviously, I would've loved to have a double, if I could take it back."